Mindfulness

[PartTimeBrewer]

              I am starting a new thread here mainly for purposes of my own catharsis. It is my intention, at least at this point, to make regular contributions. Of course, if anyone else has anything to add, they are more than welcome. If you have any input, please contribute.

              Over a year ago I decided to deal head-on with my self-diagnosed adult attention disorder, (ADD). The inability to stay focused was becoming too stressful. I found myself sitting around watching the clock tick, yet I couldn’t keep “on task” with any project I started. Nothing was getting done and just starting something was becoming depressing.

              The smart thing to do was probably to get professional help, so instead I decided to try to heal myself, at least as a first try. Cognitive therapy and pharmaceuticals (UGH) might be the approved way to go but I decided to try meditation first.

              18 months and countless self-help books later, I still can’t bring myself to a regular, formal meditation program. But, along the way, I discovered informal mindfulness. Yes, I know it is the “Fad” right now. It is hard to navigate modern social trends without “tripping over” somebody extolling the benefits of mindfulness.

              Let me add my voice to the chorus.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Fear is that little dark room where negatives are developed."  ~  Michael Pritchard

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Most of us have an inner monologue running practically all of the time. It can easily imprison you."  ~  #mindfullness

[PartTimeBrewer]

"When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself."  ~  Shunryu Suzuki

[PartTimeBrewer]

This is not hard if I am doing something I really enjoy. But mindfulness asks for this sort of total immersion of my attention even if I am performing an odious chore. It's counter intuitive, I think I want my mind to escape instead of staying engaged, but it really does enhance my appreciation of the experience.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The mind makes you believe that you are something you are not. Realize that you are not mind, or any of its illusory manifestations."  ~  Brian Thompson

[PartTimeBrewer]

I get this. If I am doing it right, I am just 'kicking back' and observing my mind go thru it's myriad routines of self-deception. But what is the identity of the observer? Who is it that the mind is trying to deceive? And who is watching the watcher?

[PartTimeBrewer]

Sometimes I just spend too much time hanging out in my left hemisphere.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Awareness is the greatest agent for change."  ~  Elkhart Tolle

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The more clearly a principle is understood by the intellect, the more inexcusable is the neglect to put it into practice."  ~  Allan Karder

[PartTimeBrewer]

This is one of my primary shortcomings, being that I am more inclined to academia than entrepreneurship.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"We think following the dharma makes us more special than those who don't, but just the opposite is true.  It makes us more ordinary."  ~  B.D. Schiers

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The eyes see only what the mind is prepared to comprehend."   ~  Henri Bergson